The overarching business requirement is to secure data stored on computer devices, such as personal computers (PCs) and mobile devices, against data loss due to hardware failure and accidental deletion. Regular backup over a wide area network (WAN) to a data center requires investment in bandwidth and a central backup system. Today's commercial backup solutions include three components: (1) a centrally managed, policy driven backup agent installed on every device; (2) a central backup server receiving data from the agents, maintaining a catalogue of data and providing the restore service; and (3) central storage, e.g., a tape library. The two last components are the infrastructure cost drivers. Typical centrally managed PC and/or mobile device backup solutions require an investment in the order of magnitude of $100,000. Due to the high cost, IT organizations often decide not to offer a PC and mobile device backup and restore service at all due to budget constrains. The PCs and the mobile devices can potentially lose their data without data backup.